System and Method for Crowd-Sourced Environmental System Control and Maintenance

ABSTRACT

A system and method for crowd-sourced environmental system control and building maintenance includes a server for providing selective access to building occupants and managers. Users are permitted to generate building reports in the form of (i) thermal reports using a thermal report module, and/or (ii) maintenance reports using a maintenance report module. The reports are each geo-located to locations within the building, and are then captured, stored, and aggregated at the server. The aggregated reports are sorted according to their geo-locations and comfort rules are used to (i) permit a manager at a client computer to access the server to respond, and/or (ii) automatically respond and assign a response status to particular reports. An inspection checklist interface is generated and populated to display a list of preventative maintenance tasks, each of the tasks being user-selectable to designate completion, with the updated status of the reports being stored at the server.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/844,494, entitled CrowdComfort, filed on Jul.10, 2013, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/903,123, entitled CrowdComfort, filed on Nov. 12, 2013, the contentsboth of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entiretiesfor all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to web-enabled transactions for building systemcontrol, and more particularly to an automated system for crowd-sourcedreport generation, aggregation, and response for building systems.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Residential and commercial building occupants are often frustrated bycomfort challenges, but feel powerless. At the same time, discomforttriggers—space is too hot, or too cold, or too drafty, can often signalpoor HVAC design, operation, maintenance, or the need for other costeffective energy efficiency improvements. For many larger commercialbuildings occupant discomfort related to temperature or other airquality issues, is a sign of an inefficient or poorly commissioned orventilated building, or unresponsive/improperly designed or maintainedHVAC controls. These conditions often lead to overheating orovercooling, causing occupants discomfort or in some cases, breathingdifficulties.

A need exists for an efficient system and method capable of capturing,analyzing, and aggregating comfort and maintenance information frombuilding occupants to produce actionable feedback to building personnel.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the invention, a computer implemented system in aclient-server environment, for crowd-sourced environmental systemcontrol and maintenance at a particular building, includes a computerserver having a processor configured to process a series of modules. Oneof the modules is a login module configured to provide selective accessto users via one or more client computers communicably coupled to theserver, the users including (i) occupants of the building having firstlevel permissions and (ii) managers having second level permissions,wherein said selective access is granted based on said permissions. Areport access module actuatable by the users after having gained accessto the server, is configured to generate a report interface displayableon the client computers to enable the users to generate one or morebuilding reports in the form of (i) thermal reports using a thermalreport module, and/or (ii) maintenance reports using a maintenancereport module. A geo-location module is configured to assign a locationwithin the building to each building report. An aggregation module isconfigured to capture, store, and aggregate the building reports at theserver. A View/Sort module is configured to sort the aggregated reportsaccording to their assigned locations, and to transmit the sortedreports to the one or more client computers for display. A rule storagemodule is configured to store a set of comfort rules for the building,while a Response/Notification module is configured to (i) permit amanager at a client computer to access the server to select forresponse, and assign a response status, to particular reports, and/or(ii) automatically respond and assign a response status to particularreports in accordance with said set of comfort rules. A checkliststorage module is configured to store a list of preventative maintenanceitems for the building. An inspection module is configured to generateand populate a checklist interface on the user device, the checklistinterface configured to display the list of preventative maintenancetasks, each of the tasks being user-selectable to designate completionof each individual task. The aggregation module is further configured tostore the status of the reports.

Another aspect of the invention is a computer implemented method in aclient-server environment, for crowd-sourced environmental systemcontrol and maintenance at a particular building. The method includesusing a computer server having a processor to perform a series ofoperations, including actuating a login module to provide selectiveaccess to users via one or more client computers communicably coupled tothe server, the users including (i) occupants of the building havingfirst level permissions and (ii) managers having second levelpermissions, wherein said selective access is granted based on saidpermissions. Additional operations include enabling users after havinggained access to the server, to actuate a report access module togenerate a report interface displayable on the client computers toenable the users to generate one or more building reports in the form of(i) thermal reports using a thermal report module, and/or (ii)maintenance reports using a maintenance report module. A geo-locationmodule is actuated to assign a location within the building to eachbuilding report. An aggregation module is actuated to receive thebuilding reports from the client computers, and to store and aggregatethe building reports at the server. The method further includesactuating a View/Sort module to sort the aggregated reports according totheir assigned locations, and to transmit the sorted reports to the oneor more client computers for display, and actuating a rule storagemodule to store a set of comfort rules for the building. AResponse/Notification module is actuated to (i) permit a manager at aclient computer to access the server to select for response, and assigna response status, to particular reports, and/or (ii) automaticallyrespond and assign a response status to particular reports in accordancewith said set of comfort rules. A checklist storage module is actuatedto store a list of preventative maintenance items for the building, andan inspection module is actuated to generate and populate a checklistinterface on the user device, the checklist interface being configuredto display the list of preventative maintenance tasks, each of the tasksbeing user-selectable to designate completion of each individual task.The aggregation module is then used to store the status of the reports.

In still another aspect of the invention, an article of manufacture forcrowd-sourced environmental system control and maintenance at aparticular building, in a client-server environment, includes a computerusable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein,for performing a series of operations, including actuating a loginmodule to provide selective access to users via one or more clientcomputers communicably coupled to the server, the users including (i)occupants of the building having first level permissions and (ii)managers having second level permissions, wherein said selective accessis granted based on said permissions. Additional operations includeenabling users after having gained access to the server, to actuate areport access module to generate a report interface displayable on theclient computers to enable the users to generate one or more buildingreports in the form of (i) thermal reports using a thermal reportmodule, and/or (ii) maintenance reports using a maintenance reportmodule. A geo-location module is actuated to assign a location withinthe building to each building report. An aggregation module is actuatedto receive the building reports from the client computers, and to storeand aggregate the building reports at the server. The method furtherincludes actuating a View/Sort module to sort the aggregated reportsaccording to their assigned locations, and to transmit the sortedreports to the one or more client computers for display, and actuating arule storage module to store a set of comfort rules for the building. AResponse/Notification module is actuated to (i) permit a manager at aclient computer to access the server to select for response, and assigna response status, to particular reports, and/or (ii) automaticallyrespond and assign a response status to particular reports in accordancewith said set of comfort rules. A checklist storage module is actuatedto store a list of preventative maintenance items for the building, andan inspection module is actuated to generate and populate a checklistinterface on the user device, the checklist interface being configuredto display the list of preventative maintenance tasks, each of the tasksbeing user-selectable to designate completion of each individual task.The aggregation module is then used to store the status of the reports.

The features and advantages described herein are not all-inclusive and,in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings,specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that thelanguage used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and not to limit the scope ofthe inventive subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic representation of aspects of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 1B is a schematic representation of aspects of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 1C is a block diagram of one embodiment of a network-basedtransaction facility according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a database maintained bya database engine server;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a usertable within the database;

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a propertyinformation table within the database;

FIG. 4B is a schematic representation of a floor plan usable withembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4C is a table with summaries of information shown in the floor planof FIG. 4B;

FIG. 4D is a table populated with data and rules in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic diagram of one embodiment of a systemwithin which aspects of the present invention may be embodied;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an interface sequence inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a flow chart of one embodiment for a method of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7B is a flow chart of another embodiment for a method of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7C is a flow chart of another embodiment for a method of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 15 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is an exemplaryrepresentation of an interface included in the sequence of interfacesshown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 16A is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 16B is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 16C is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 17 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 18 is an exemplary representation of an interface included in thesequence of interfaces shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system usablein various aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown byway of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may bepracticed. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is tobe understood that other embodiments may be utilized. It is also to beunderstood that structural, procedural and system changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Inaddition, well-known structures, circuits and techniques have not beenshown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of thisdescription. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention isdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

As used in the specification and in the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. For example, reference to “a facility”includes a plurality of such facility. In another example, reference to“an analysis” includes a plurality of such analyses.

Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Allterms, including technical and scientific terms, as used herein, havethe same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in theart to which this invention belongs unless a term has been otherwisedefined. It will be further understood that terms, such as those definedin commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningas commonly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art towhich this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and the present disclosure. Suchcommonly used terms will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless the disclosure herein expressly so definesotherwise.

General Overview

A method and apparatus for providing automated report generation,aggregation, and response, in a network-based transaction facility aredescribed. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details.

Referring to FIG. 1A, embodiments of the present invention offerbuilding owners, operators, and occupants a new and powerful way toshare information about comfort, maintenance, and safety issues with aneasy to use smart device application. These embodiments convert thiscrowd sourced feedback into time stamped, geo-located aggregatedreports/maps, which are actionable through a custom portal allowingbuilding owners or facility managers to respond more rapidly and costeffectively to occupant concerns. These embodiments democratize andamplify the voices of building occupants, while helping building ownersto pinpoint energy and operational saving opportunities. Referring toFIG. 1A, users may open application 70, identify a location 72, e.g., byscanning a QR Code, and generate a maintenance report 74, an inspectionreport 76 and/or a comfort report 78. Referring now to FIG. 1B, oncethese reports are collected at 80, they are aggregated and analyzed(e.g., mapped) based on location at 82, and then automaticallycommunicated to an appropriate recipient for response 84. In theseembodiments, thermal comfort is facilitated by leveraging the power ofemployees to identify energy savings opportunities, improve comfort andworker productivity. Facilities management is facilitated by collecting,aggregating, and delivering real-time, geo-located reports on comfortand maintenance issues. Environmental compliance and inspection isfacilitated by replacing the clipboard with real-time, site-specificenvironmental compliance reporting.

Various embodiments operate by initially having facility managersidentify locations for data collection in and/or around particularproperties. Markers are printed, delivered, and placed at the identifiedlocations. Employees/Inspectors are notified, asked to download theapplication, and begin reporting. Facilities managers gain instantaccess to the secure portal where the data is aggregated and displayed.From the inventive platform, maintenance reports are converted into workorders that can be efficiently organized, addressed, and stored. Asthese reports are processed the employees who filed them are notified ofprogress through their phones. In particular embodiments, buildingsystems are adjusted automatically in response to the aggregated,geo-located reports.

Potential benefits include: engaging employees and making them part ofthe solution; improving health, safety and security within anorganization; collection of meaningful data that can be leveraged tosupport high-impact recommendations; use of predictive analytics toidentify maintenance needs before they become problems; and/oroptimization of workflow efficiency for building maintenance.

Reporting comfort and/or maintenance issues is simply the first step. Bycapturing and highlighting occupant discomfort, occupants can provide acompelling feedback loop to building owners—and the cloud—to addressthese problems and reduce energy consumption, while improving buildingoccupants' comfort. Initial embodiments may simply provide crowd sourcedfeedback to building facility managers/owners informing them the extentto which building HVAC system design, set points, and overall operationis meeting occupant comfort expectations. Ultimately, crowd sourcedreactions would directly influence or directly control HVAC operation(temperature and humidity levels) alongside required ventilation/airexchange rates (e.g. ASHRAE standards 62.1 and 90.1) to better match thecomfort needs of a preponderance of building occupants by tying feedbackdirectly to the building's energy management system. For example, if 90%of the occupants in a convention center feel too chilly, airconditioning set points may be raised slightly and energy consumptionreduced.

Particular embodiments capture crowd sourced comfort level informationperiodically via a simple icon based interface. Occupants may receive asimple periodic query—perhaps via text message, via Twitter, or otherplatforms—asking them to characterize their comfort level (e.g. verycold, somewhat cold, comfortable, warm, very warm). Users may thenrespond using the system interface shown and described herein. Takentogether, this data would inform building facility managers, anddirectly influence building HVAC set points. Looking beyond the buildingboundary, in various embodiments, this aggregated data may be sharedon-line in a Google maps-type interface where users could mouse overbuildings and see reports in the aggregate (e.g. how many, and when,users reported being uncomfortable). These reports would be updated overtime based on user feedback. Such user feedback would motivate buildingowners to react, due to the potential positive or negative occupantratings that could have a real effect on the property's value. At thesame time, building owners could voluntarily report improvement they hadmade to their buildings at the same web based platform. Theseembodiments would thus actively support building owners who takeproactive steps to provide the most comfortable and energy efficientbuildings.

Application deployment/partnership options may include: Eventregistration sites; Employer databases/corporate sustainabilityleadership; Hotels; Public Transit/trains, etc. Additional applicationsmay include power supply impacts—facility owners, utilities, and gridoperators could use this platform to communicate important grid and airquality data to building occupants. For example, a preponderance ofbuilding occupants might be willing to tolerate a slightly higher indoortemperature during a hot summer day if they knew that by shedding thatload, grid operators could avoid starting coal fired peaking powerplants. In other words, these embodiments may complement and augmentexisting demand response programs.

Also, by use of relatively high resolution location data, e.g., by useof QR Codes, microGPS, etc., facility operators may begin to betterunderstand HVAC design and operation problems at the distribution level,targeting solutions such as more localized controls, VAV (Variable AirVolume) box operation, or other conditions (e.g. excessive passivesolar) addressing tenant comfort concerns and related energy use.

Building owners and users could capture more value from the app overtime by pushing more and more sophisticated questions to app users,particularly repeat users, including questions like: “how would you ratethe air quality in your building?” Occupants who participate in usingthese embodiments will be providing valuable data on the buildingsystems, but will also be educating building managers about theirpreferences. This understanding will allow building owners and employersto place workers in environments with similar temperature preferences topotentially improve work satisfaction and productivity. Repeat users maybuild a profile and climate preference.

Terminology

For the purposes of the present specification, the term “transaction”shall be taken to include any communications between two or moreentities and shall be construed to include, but not be limited to,transferring data including reports and responses between computers,downloading software applications or “apps” including graphical userinterface components, and commercial transactions including sale andpurchase transactions, and the like.

As used herein, the terms “computer” and “end-user device” are meant toencompass a workstation, personal computer, personal digital assistant(PDA) or smart phone, wireless telephone, tablet, or any other suitablecomputing device including a processor, a computer readable medium uponwhich computer readable program code (including instructions and/ordata) may be disposed, and a user interface. Terms such as “server”,“application”, “engine” and the like are intended to refer to acomputer-related component, including hardware, software, and/orsoftware in execution. For example, an engine may be, but is not limitedto being, a process running on a processor, a processor including anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and a computer.Moreover, the various components may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. The terms “real-time” and“on-demand” refer to sensing and responding to external events nearlysimultaneously (e.g., within milliseconds or microseconds) with theiroccurrence, or without intentional delay, given the processinglimitations of the system and the time required to accurately respond tothe inputs.

Terms such as “component,” “module”, “control components/devices,”“messenger component or service,” and the like are intended to refer toa computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardwareand software, software, or software in execution. For example, acomponent may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an applicationrunning on a server and the server (or control related devices) can becomponents. One or more components may reside within a process and/orthread of execution and a component may be localized on one computerand/or distributed between two or more computers or control devices.

Programming Languages

The system and method embodying the present invention can be programmedin any suitable language and technology, such as, but not limited to:C++; Visual Basic; Java; VBScript; Jscript; BCMAscript; DHTM1; XML andCGI. Alternative versions may be developed using other programminglanguages including, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), ActiveServerPages (ASP) and Javascript. Any suitable database technology canbe employed, such as, but not limited to, Microsoft SQL Server or IBM AS400.

Referring now to the figures, embodiments of the present invention willbe more thoroughly described.

Transaction Facility

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network-basedtransaction facility in the form of an Internet-based report generationand aggregation facility 10. The report facility 10 includes one or moreof a number of types of front-end servers, namely page servers 12 thatdeliver web pages (e.g., markup language reports), picture servers 14that dynamically deliver images to be displayed within Web pages, CGI(Common Gateway Interface) servers 18 that provide an intelligentinterface to the back-end of facility 10, and search servers 20 thathandle search requests to the facility 10. E-mail/communication servers21 provide, inter alia, automated e-mail (and optionally, text and/orsocial media) communications to users of the facility 10. The back-endservers may include a database engine server 22, a search index server24 and a payment (e.g., credit card and/or subscription) database server26, each of which may maintain and facilitate access to a respectivedatabase. Facility 10 may also include an administrative applicationserver 28 configured to provide various administrative functions.

The network-based report generation and aggregation facility 10 may beaccessed by a client program 30, such as a browser (e.g., the InternetExplorer distributed by Microsoft) that executes on a client machine 32such as a smart phone, and accesses the facility 10 via a network suchas, for example, the Internet 34. Other examples of networks that aclient may utilize to access the facility 10 include a wide area network(WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless network (e.g., a cellularnetwork), or the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network.

Database Structure

FIG. 2 is a database diagram illustrating an exemplary database 23,maintained by and accessed via the database engine server 22, which atleast partially implements and supports the report generation andaggregation facility 10. The database 23 may, in one embodiment, beimplemented as a relational database, and includes a number of tableshaving entries, or records, that are linked by indices and keys. In analternative embodiment, the database 23 may be implemented as collectionof objects in an object-oriented database.

As shown, central to the database 23 is a user table 40, which containsa record for each user of the facility 10. The database 23 also includestables 42 that may be linked to the user table 40. Specifically, thetables 42 may include property report (e.g., geo-located buildingreport) table 44, and various property specific tables, such as abuilding locations table 45, inspection list table 46, comfort rulestable 50, and a user-customizable table 52. A user record in the usertable 40 may be linked to multiple reports that are being, or have been,generated via the facility 10 and for which records exist within thereport tables 42. The database 23 may also include a comment table 48populatable with comment records that may be linked to one or morereport records within the report tables 42. A number of other tables mayalso be linked to the user table 40, such as an accounts table 56, anaccount balances table 58 and a transaction record table 60.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary embodiment ofthe user table 40 that is populated with records, or entries, for eachuser of the facility 10. As shown, table 40 includes a user identifiercolumn 61 that stores a unique identifier for each user. A name column63 may store a first name, a middle initial and a last name for eachuser. An address column 65 may store address information and/or othercontact information for each user, e.g. an employer name, and/or streetname and number, city, zip code, state, email address, etc. A phonenumber column 67 stores a phone (e.g., mobile) number for each user. Apermission status column 69 may store, for each user, a valueidentifying the user's permission status, i.e., the user's ability toaccess particular features of the system, such as those typicallyprovided to a manager or other user tasked with responding to particularreports, etc. It should be recognized that the amount of informationstored may vary depending on the permission level assigned to theparticular user. Table 40 may also store any additional information thatmay be desired for particular applications. For example, subscriptioninformation may be recorded (not shown), in which different values maybe assigned to indicate whether a user has a currently validsubscription, has an expired subscription (which may provide onlylimited access to facility 10). It will be appreciated that anyinformation other than that described above may populate the user table40 without loss of generality.

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary embodiment of atable 44 populated with property report records generated during use ofthe report generation facility 10. As shown, table 44 includes aproperty ID column 60 to identify particular properties, a locationID/QR column 62 to track particular locations, e.g., as designated witha QR Code or similar tag placed at the location, a property rules column64 to provide a pointer or other reference to maintenance lists 45,inspection lists 46, comfort rules tables 50, and/or user-customizabletable 52, associated with the particular property. A room type column 66provides the type of space tagged by the QR Code, e.g., conference room,private office, etc. Report content column 68 is populated with theactual content of a report generated by the system, along with the UserID of the individual responsible for generating the report.

It will be appreciated that in particular embodiments, other descriptiveinformation may also populate table 44, without departing from the scopeof the present invention. For example, additional columns may beprovided to capture information regarding the number of employeestypically occupying a particular room type, and/or the number of roomsof a particular room type in the property or HVAC zone. Yet anothercolumn, for example, may identify the HVAC zone within which aparticular location ID/QR Code is located.

Turning now to FIGS. 4B and 4C, information used to populate table 44may be obtained from a floor plan 85 (FIG. 4B) of a particular property,which as shown, has been segregated into various room types, such aslarge workspaces 86, common areas 87, individual offices 88, andconference rooms 89. In FIG. 4C, some of the room types have optionallybeen associated with additional information, such as typical occupancylevels (for Large Workspaces), and the number of rooms of a particulartype, e.g., Individual Offices and Conference Rooms.

Report Generation and Aggregation Process

As mentioned hereinabove, embodiments of the present invention providegeo-located mobile application that allows employees and managers toreport comfort levels and maintenance issues from anywhere, easily andinstantaneously. This information is processed through a cloud-basedreport aggregation server(s) and shared with managers in real-timethrough a secure portal that provides comfort and maintenanceinformation, optionally including preventive maintenance such asinspection lists, in aggregated reports. This data can be used to engageemployees, improve workflow, drive operational savings, and optimizeorganizational performance.

These embodiments enable such report generation and aggregation in areal-time, web-based, client-server environment. While the presentinvention is discussed within the environment of the exemplary reportaggregation facility 10, it will readily be appreciated that the presentinvention may be used in any number of environments including networkand on-line based transaction facilities in business-to-business,business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer applications.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a system 90 for generatingreports in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, a client computer 92 is coupled to atransaction computer 98 via a communications network (e.g. a wide areanetwork) 94. The client computer 92 represents a device that allows auser to interact with the report generation and aggregation facility 10or any other transaction facility 98. In one embodiment, the clientcomputer 92 presents to the user a report generation interface forgenerating reports and viewing content aggregated be the transactioncomputer 98.

The transaction computer 98, which supports a facility such as shown at10 of FIG. 1C, handles transactions between various participants of thefacility 10 including the user of the client computer 92. In oneembodiment, the transaction computer 98 may initially receive thepersonal information of the participant from the client computer 92, andgenerate a subscription result which determines whether, and to whatextent, the user is granted access to the facility 10. The transactioncomputer then facilitates the aggregation of reports in accordance withvarious user interfaces presented by the computer 98, via the clientcomputer 92, to the user.

FIG. 6 shows a series 100 of interfaces/modules, such as may take theform of a series of objects (or methods), that may be implemented by thereport aggregation facility 10, e.g., in combination with the varioustables of database 23, for the purposes of generating and aggregatingreports. The series 100 of interface modules shown in FIG. 6 will bedescribed with reference to exemplary representations of the variousinterfaces as shown in FIGS. 8-18. It should be noted that the variousmodules may reside and operate on the facility 10 or alternatively, oneor more of the modules, or components thereof, may be initiallydownloaded from the facility 10, e.g., as an application or “app”, forinstallation on a user's smart phone, tablet or other user device 32.The skilled artisan will recognize that distribution of some componentsonto user devices may provide benefits such as reducing the amount ofcommunication traffic between the user devices and the facility 10.

As shown, series 100 includes a login module 102, configured to generatea login interface through which a user of the facility 10 provides atleast a user identifier and associated password. The login module mayinclude a permissions module configured to provide selective access tothe server by one or more users in accordance with permissions assignedto each user, e.g., based on whether the user is an employee of abuilding tenant or other building occupant, or whether the user is amanager or other responsible party having authority to address reportsaggregated by the facility 10. Optionally, some users, such as theaforementioned manager, may also be requested to pay a subscription feefor access to the system.

A report access module 104 is configured to generate a report interface,such as shown at 200 in FIG. 8. Module 104 interacts with the varioustables of database 23 (FIG. 1C) to enable a user to generate a newreport by scanning a QR code at 202 (FIG. 9), using geo-location module106, or by looking up a particular location, e.g., within a particularbuilding at 204 (FIG. 10), which then permits the user to select thetype of report at 206 (FIG. 11). Selecting “Rate Thermal Comfort”actuates thermal module 108, while selecting “Report a MaintenanceIssue” actuates maintenance module 110, both of which permit the user tosupply data, such as a thermal rating at 208 of FIG. 12 and/or amaintenance request at 210 of FIG. 13. An optional time-stamp module 126is configured to store a time stamp denoting the time of creation and/orstorage at the server, of each building report.

The reports are uploaded from the user devices 32 to the facility 10(FIG. 1C) where aggregation module 112 aggregates and stores them indatabase 23 (FIG. 2). An optional Comment/Customize module 114 permits auser to add custom text or images to the report, such as at 210 of FIG.13, and/or to comment on others' reports, such as by selecting the‘agree’ icon to support others' reports as shown at 212 of FIG. 14. RuleStorage module 116 enables rules to be uploaded for storage in tables45, 46, 50 and/or 52 (FIG. 2), and/or accessed during responses asdiscussed hereinbelow. View/Sort module 118 actuates the interfaces 212and 214 of FIGS. 14 and 15 to display aggregated reports from one ormore users. Response/Notification module 120 actuates interfaces 216,218 and 220 of FIGS. 16A-16C, which permit the user, which in thisinstance is a responsible party such as a manager having relatively highlevel permissions, to access the system to select specific reports tosee detail and manage reports. Examples include adding a detailedcomment (FIG. 16A), entering or changing status of a report, e.g.,‘resolved’ (FIG. 16B), which may include automatically notifying theuser who originally submitted the report, and/or assigning the report toanother user (colleague) for appropriate action (FIG. 16C), which mayalso include automatically notifying the assignee. It is noted that thenotifications provided by module 120 may be accomplished automaticallyin any convenient manner, such as via email, text, etc., or via in-appnotification, using email/communication server 21 (FIG. 1C). An exampleof an in-app notification is shown in FIG. 17, in which an ‘assigned tome’ interface 222 may display all reports that have been assigned to aparticular user for resolution.

In addition to automatic notifications, response module 120 may alsoprovide other automatic responses. For example, module 120 mayautomatically adjust building controls (e.g., HVAC controls) inaccordance with the predetermined rules, e.g., comfort rule table 50,for the particular property, which may be accessed by rule storagemodule 116. One example of a rule table 50 is shown in FIG. 4D. In thisexample, system 10 has received and aggregated temperature reports from30 out of 38 users located in a particular HVAC zone. As also shown, 20of the users are requesting a temperature increase, while 5 arerequesting a decrease, and 5 are requesting no temperature change. Therule table includes a weighting rule, which in this example, is prorata, with 50 percent of the neutral ‘no change’ weightings beingsubtracted from each of the ‘increase’ and ‘decrease’ weights. Anincrease/decrease weighting rule subtracts the ‘decrease’ weighting fromthe ‘increase’ weighting, to yield a net weighting which if positive,corresponds to a percentage increase, and if negative corresponds to apercentage decrease of the ‘Max Change’ in temperature parameter. In theexample shown, the aggregated reports produce a net weighting of +0.50which dictates a positive adjustment of 50 percent of the ‘Max Change’parameter of 5 degrees, to yield a recommended increase of 2.5 degrees.This recommended change may be effected automatically, by a transmissionto the building HVAC system, or alternatively, may be sent to theinterface 218 of FIG. 16B for action by a manager or other responsibleparty.

Response module 120 may also include an inspection module 122 configuredto generate and populate a checklist display 224 such as shown in FIG.18. The checklist interface enables a user to identify, e.g., with acheckmark, the particular asset being inspected. Aggregation module 124serves to store and aggregate the various reports, including anycomments/customization and responses, while also providing variousreporting capabilities such as shown at 82 of FIG. 1B, and as will bediscussed in greater detail hereinbelow.

Exemplary methods associated with system 100 of the present invention,will now be described as illustrated by the flow chart of FIGS. 7A and7B.

Referring now to FIG. 7A, a method 700 for configuring the system forenvironmental comfort use at a particular property is shown anddescribed. At 708, a list of rooms, including common areas, for theproperty is obtained, e.g., using floor plans such as shown in FIG. 4B,or created by touring the property and counting rooms, etc. At 710, alist of locations of interest within the rooms is generated. At 712,unique tags, such as individualized QR Codes, are generated for eachlocation of interest. At 714, the tags are placed at the locations ofinterest, e.g., by printing the QR Codes onto markers which arephysically placed at their corresponding locations. It should be notedthat the locations of interest may be determined as granularly asdesired. For example, a single room may have multiple tags, such as tocapture comfort data at opposite ends of a large conference table. At716, each location of interest is optionally mapped to an HVAC zone inthe building. At 718, a set of rules (e.g., comfort, maintenance,inspection, etc.) rules is set for the particular property, e.g., todetermine how often and how much the temperature can be changed by thesystem within an HVAC zone, etc. At 720, user contact information iscaptured and stored to table(s) 40, and notification, e.g., by email,text, social media, etc., is sent to employees or occupants of theproperty letting them know about the system and providing instruction onhow to use it.

Referring now to FIG. 7B, a method 702 for operating system 100 is shownand described. As shown, the method 702 commences with enabling thelogin module at 730 to provide user interface information to a user ofthe transaction facility at client 32 (FIG. 1). More specifically, theuser interface information may provide a login interface via loginmodule 102 (FIG. 6). Subsequent to the login by the user, at 732 thereport access module is actuated to generate a report interfacedisplayable on the client computers to enable the users to generate oneor more building reports in the form of (i) thermal reports using athermal report module, and/or (ii) maintenance reports using amaintenance report module. At 734, the geo-location module 106 isactuated to assign a location within the building to each buildingreport. At 736, the aggregation module 112 is actuated to receive thebuilding reports from the client computers, and to store and aggregatethe building reports at the server. At 738, the View/Sort module 118sorts the aggregated reports according to their assigned locations, andtransmits the sorted reports to the one or more client computers fordisplay. At 740, rule storage module 116 is actuated to store anycomfort rules for the building that have not previously been loaded intodatabase 23 (FIG. 1C). At 742, Response/Notification module 120 isactuated to (i) permit a manager at a client computer to access theserver to select for response, and assign a response status, toparticular reports, and/or (ii) automatically respond and assign aresponse status to particular reports in accordance with said set ofcomfort rules. At 744, checklist storage module 122 is actuated to storea list of preventative maintenance items for the building. At 746,inspection module 124 is actuated to generate and populate a checklistinterface on the user device, the checklist interface configured todisplay the list of preventative maintenance tasks, each of the tasksbeing user-selectable to designate completion of each individual task.At 748, the aggregation module 112 is actuated to store the status ofthe reports.

Various optional additions to method 702 are shown in flowchart 704 ofFIG. 7C. As shown, at 750, report access module 104 is actuated topermit a client computer to generate a building report by scanning a QRcode disposed at a predetermined location within the building. At 752,report access module 104 is actuated to permit a client computer togenerate a building report by looking up a particular location withinthe building. At 754, report access module 104 is actuated to permit aclient computer to apply a thermal comfort rating to one or more of thethermal reports. At 756, report access module 104 is actuated to permita client computer to apply a maintenance request to one or moremaintenance reports. At 758, optional time-stamp module 126 is actuatedto store a time stamp denoting the time of creation and/or storage atthe server, of each building report. At 760, optional Comment/Customizemodule 114 is actuated to permit a user at a client computer to addcustom text and/or images to a report. At 762, step 760 further includespermitting the user to comment on reports. At 766, Response/Notificationmodule 120 is actuated to automatically adjust the environmental controlsystem in accordance with the predetermined rules for the building. At768, Response/Notification module 120 is configured to aggregate andassign weights to reports associated with a particular location, and touse the weights to generate a control signal to adjust one or moreoperational parameters of the environmental control system. At 770,Response/Notification module 120 is actuated to permit a user, via theone or more client computers, to add a comment to one or more reports.At 772, step 770 further includes permitting a manager, via the one ormore client computers, to assign one or more reports to one or moreparticular users for response.

It should be recognized that in the embodiments shown and describedhereinabove, heat maps, such as shown at 82 in FIG. 1B, may beautomatically generated and displayed in the user device interface(s)once thermal reports are aggregated. Moreover, as reports come innotifications may be provided directly to the individuals who need them.For example a comfort report may be delivered directly to the smartphone device of the person who manages the building management system,but a report on the generator may go to the device of an appropriateEnvironmental Health and Safety professional.

Particular embodiments may also be configured to accept an initiation ofa temperature change by any individual who works in a particular zone.This process may be generally the same for every kind of occupied officespace except the individual office on a single room zone. In that case,the occupant could increase the set-point on his or her own (withinnormal set-point ranges).

In addition to the rules in the temperature adjustment example shown anddescribed hereinabove, the temperature change mechanism may have anynumber of additional rules, such as those that limit the number ofchanges that can be initiated by per day or per hour. Moreover, therules may be space (zone) specific. The rules are typically set by theemployer, or building manager and may be adjusted easily as needed.

Once a temperature change is initiated all of the employees in the zonemay be notified by any convenient method. An exemplary notification maystate:

“An individual in your zone is uncomfortable and has requested atemperature change. Your feedback is important so please let us knowyour preference to increase, decrease or maintain the currenttemperature. To do so please open the CrowdComfort application andprovide your choice. In order for us to account for your temperaturepreference we will need your participation within 5 minutes of receiptof this notice.”

After the 5 minute period the votes may be tabulated by embodiments ofthe present invention.

It should also be recognized that data may be gathered an accumulatedand a profile generated for each user submitting a comfort report. Forindividuals that are often uncomfortable, managers may begin to addresstheir levels at an individual level as opposed to at the system/zonelevel. Moreover, users who are habitual outliers may be accorded lessweight than other users. Still further, although QR Codes have beenshown and described as a convenient geo-location device, otherapproaches for geo-location may include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, I-Beacon, RFIDor other location method to send the notification only to people withina particular zone.

It should also be recognized that although the various embodiments havebeen shown and described with respect to particular buildings, theembodiments need not be limited solely to interior applications. Rather,the embodiments may be applied to various property types, includingbuildings and campuses having both interior and exterior locations ofinterest, including rooftop decks and equipment, courtyards, patios,etc., for which it may be desirable to receive and aggregate comfort,maintenance, and/or inspection reports.

FIG. 19 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system 300 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one of themethodologies discussed above, may be executed. In alternativeembodiments, the machine may include a network router, a network switch,a network bridge, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellulartelephone, a web appliance or any machine capable of executing asequence of instructions that specify actions to be taken by thatmachine.

The computer system 300 includes a processor 302, a main memory 304 anda static memory 306, which communicate with each other via a bus 308.The computer system 300 may further include a video display unit 310(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, cathode ray tube (CRT),etc.). The computer system 300 may also include an alpha-numeric inputdevice 312 (e.g., a keyboard or touchscreen), a cursor control device314 (e.g., a mouse), a drive (e.g., disk, flash memory, etc.) unit 316,a signal generation device 320 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interfacedevice 322.

The drive unit 316 includes a computer-readable medium 324 on which isstored a set of instructions (i.e., software) 326 embodying any one, orall, of the methodologies described above. The software 326 is alsoshown to reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 304 and/or within the processor 302. The software 326 may furtherbe transmitted or received via the network interface device 322. For thepurposes of this specification, the term “computer-readable medium”shall be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing orencoding a sequence of instructions for execution by the computer andthat cause the computer to perform any one of the methodologies of thepresent invention, and as further described hereinbelow.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention include a computerprogram code-based product, which includes a computer readable storagemedium having program code stored therein which can be used to instructa computer to perform any of the functions, methods and/or modulesassociated with the present invention. The non-transitory computerreadable medium includes any of, but not limited to, the following:CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic tape, optical disc, hard drive, floppy disk,ferroelectric memory, flash memory, phase-change memory, ferromagneticmemory, optical storage, charge coupled devices, magnetic or opticalcards, smart cards, EEPROM, EPROM, RAM, ROM, DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, and/orany other appropriate static, dynamic, or volatile memory or datastorage devices, but does not include a transitory signal per se.

The above systems are implemented in various computing environments. Forexample, the present invention may be implemented on a conventional IBMPC or equivalent, multi-nodal system (e.g., LAN) or networking system(e.g., Internet, WWW, wireless web). All programming and data relatedthereto are stored in computer memory, static or dynamic ornon-volatile, and may be retrieved by the user in any of: conventionalcomputer storage, display (e.g., CRT, flat panel LCD, plasma, etc.)and/or hardcopy (i.e., printed) formats. The programming of the presentinvention may be implemented by one skilled in the art of computersystems and/or software design.

In the preceding specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments for the purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in light of this disclosure. It is intendedthat the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by the claims appended hereto.

It should be further understood that any of the features described withrespect to one of the embodiments described herein may be similarlyapplied to any of the other embodiments described herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:
 1. A computerimplemented system in a client-server environment, for crowd-sourcedenvironmental system control and maintenance at a particular building,the system comprising a computer server having a processor configured toprocess: a login module configured to provide selective access to usersvia one or more client computers communicably coupled to the server, theusers including (i) occupants of the building having first levelpermissions and (ii) managers having second level permissions, whereinsaid selective access is granted based on said permissions; a reportaccess module actuatable by the users after having gained access to theserver, the report access module configured to generate a reportinterface displayable on the client computers to enable the users togenerate one or more building reports in the form of (i) thermal reportsusing a thermal report module, and/or (ii) maintenance reports using amaintenance report module; a geo-location module configured to assign alocation within the building to each building report; an aggregationmodule configured to capture, store, and aggregate the building reportsat the server; a View/Sort module configured to sort the aggregatedreports according to their assigned locations, and to transmit thesorted reports to the one or more client computers for display; a rulestorage module configured to store a set of comfort rules for thebuilding; a Response/Notification module configured to (i) permit amanager at a client computer to access the server to select forresponse, and assign a response status, to particular reports, and/or(ii) automatically respond and assign a response status to particularreports in accordance with said set of comfort rules; a checkliststorage module configured to store a list of preventative maintenanceitems for the building; an inspection module configured to generate andpopulate a checklist interface on the user device, the checklistinterface configured to display the list of preventative maintenancetasks, each of the tasks being user-selectable to designate completionof each individual task; and the aggregation module further configuredto store the status of the reports.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe report access module is configured to permit a client computer togenerate a building report by scanning a QR code disposed at apredetermined location within the building.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the report access module is configured to permit a clientcomputer to generate a building report by looking up a particularlocation within the building.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thereport access module is configured to permit a client computer to applya thermal comfort rating to one or more of the thermal reports.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the report access module is configured topermit a client computer to apply a maintenance request to one or moremaintenance reports.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising atime-stamp module configured to store a time stamp denoting the time ofcreation and/or storage at the server, of each building report.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a Comment/Customize moduleconfigured to permit a user at a client computer to add custom textand/or images to a report.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein theComment/Customize module is further configured to permit the user tocomment on reports.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theResponse/Notification module is configured to automatically adjust theenvironmental control system in accordance with the predetermined rulesfor the building.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein theResponse/Notification module is configured to aggregate and assignweights to reports associated with a particular location, and to use theweights to generate a control signal to adjust one or more operationalparameters of the environmental control system.
 11. The system of claim1, wherein the Response/Notification module is further configured topermit a user, via the one or more client computers, to add a comment toone or more reports.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theResponse/Notification module is further configured to permit a manager,via the one or more client computers, to assign one or more reports toone or more particular users for response.
 13. A computer implementedmethod in a client-server environment, for crowd-sourced environmentalsystem control and maintenance at a particular building, the methodcomprising using a computer server having a processor to: (a) actuate alogin module to provide selective access to users via one or more clientcomputers communicably coupled to the server, the users including (i)occupants of the building having first level permissions and (ii)managers having second level permissions, wherein said selective accessis granted based on said permissions; (b) enable users after havinggained access to the server, to actuate a report access module togenerate a report interface displayable on the client computers toenable the users to generate one or more building reports in the form of(i) thermal reports using a thermal report module, and/or (ii)maintenance reports using a maintenance report module; (c) actuate ageo-location module to assign a location within the building to eachbuilding report; (d) actuate an aggregation module to receive thebuilding reports from the client computers, and to store and aggregatethe building reports at the server; (e) actuate a View/Sort module tosort the aggregated reports according to their assigned locations, andto transmit the sorted reports to the one or more client computers fordisplay; (f) actuate a rule storage module to store a set of comfortrules for the building; (g) actuate a Response/Notification module to(i) permit a manager at a client computer to access the server to selectfor response, and assign a response status, to particular reports,and/or (ii) automatically respond and assign a response status toparticular reports in accordance with said set of comfort rules; (h)actuate a checklist storage module to store a list of preventativemaintenance items for the building; (i) actuate an inspection module togenerate and populate a checklist interface on the user device, thechecklist interface configured to display the list of preventativemaintenance tasks, each of the tasks being user-selectable to designatecompletion of each individual task; and (j) actuate the aggregationmodule to store the status of the reports.
 14. The method of claim 13,comprising actuating the report access module to permit a clientcomputer to generate a building report by scanning a QR code disposed ata predetermined location within the building.
 15. The method of claim13, comprising actuating the report access module to permit a clientcomputer to generate a building report by looking up a particularlocation within the building.
 16. The method of claim 13, comprisingactuating the report access module to permit a client computer to applya thermal comfort rating to one or more of the thermal reports.
 17. Themethod of claim 13, comprising actuating the report access module topermit a client computer to apply a maintenance request to one or moremaintenance reports.
 18. The method of claim 13, comprising actuating atime-stamp module to store a time stamp denoting the time of creationand/or storage at the server, of each building report.
 19. The method ofclaim 13, comprising actuating a Comment/Customize module to permit auser at a client computer to add custom text and/or images to a report.20. The method of claim 19, comprising actuating the Comment/Customizemodule to permit the user to comment on reports. 21.-25. (canceled)